Sunday, May 21, 2017

The Death of Roderick C. Meredith

LCG has announced that Roderick C. Meredith has passed away aged 86 on Thursday, May 18, 2017. It had been announced earlier that he had terminal cancer. His funeral is to be held Sunday, May 21.

I wished he had lived longer. My thoughts and condolences go to his family members.

We human beings are complicated. We can treat those close to us well while neglecting those not so favored. I will not speculate about those who were close to him. But for those of us who participated in and saw the fallacies of what Roderick C. Meredith taught it is sad to see that he used up his working life promoting and sustaining a religion that is severely flawed and has caused much pain to the many people who have grown disillusioned with it.

As HWA's organization grew HWA and those immediately below him including Meredith had few restraints upon their authority. In a situation like that abuse of that power were practically certain to occur.

Infamously, as may be seen in his July 18, 1969 letter, he helped enforce HWA's astoundingly brutal divorce and remarriage policy which gave ministers of HWA's organization the power to order couples to end their marriages for arbitrary reasons. This frightening policy was in force until 1974.

In 1992 HWA's organization had to pay $750,000 to Leona McNair to settle a libel case that started after Meredith made public statements about her in 1979 that she denounced as libelous. At one point of the long running case a jury awarded her $1,260,000 in damages for Meredith's libel on August 23, 1984.

Last year Meredith was sued again by the Scarboroughs for alleged bad behavior against them when they were disfellowshipped out of LCG. However that particular lawsuit failed.

Although Meredith often played up his associations with HWA he actually fell out of his favor long before HWA's death. David Robinson stated in his book, Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web, that HWA no longer favored Meredith as early as 1972. He insisted that Meredith was only placed over the ministry in 1979 in order to bolster HWA and Stanley Rader's power over HWA's organization during the receivership crisis. Once he had served his purpose in reasserting HWA's authority over the ministry he was immediately replaced by Joseph Tkach in July 1979. Even after Rader lost HWA's favor in 1981 Meredith was not returned to that position which he previously held. HWA's actions indicate that he did not view Meredith as a possible successor.

While Meredith was over the ministry in January-July 1979 he disfellowshipped numerous ministers. The authoritarian nature of HWA's organization allowed Meredith to wield such frightening power even over other ministers.

In 1992 as the Tkach changes got closer to transforming the organization founded by HWA into essentially another Protestant church Meredith left it and formed a splinter group. In 1998 a schism erupted and he left to form yet another splinter group. While leading these organizations of his he hosted a telecast. And even though there had emerged hundreds of splinter groups which taught many doctrines very similar to what he himself preached he would still say things like, "You will gain precious insights and information available nowhere else," letting his audience falsely think that no one else taught what he did. How is saying a statement like that not a con?

Meredith also had a long history of demonizing and vilifying the LGBT community. While such hostility is common among the splinter groups originating from HWA's organization Meredith seemed especially obsessed with vilifying them. One shudders to imagine the effects of his vindictiveness upon those who paid attention to his words. One wonders why he was so bitter and nasty towards them,

It is clear that Meredith was badly served by his uncle C. Paul Meredith who seems to have helped lead Meredith into joining HWA's organization in Meredith's teenage years. Serving HWA's organization led to Meredith promoting all kinds of misinformation that were simply untrue such as British Israelism. It would have been better for himself and those around him if Meredith had pursued another avenue of employment that would have prevented him having such a negative influence over other people. But he made his choices and the consequences of his choices have to be addressed.

As each one of us has a personal calling ,For the grace of Elohim, that brings salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that denying perverseness and worldly LUSTS, we should live soberly, righteously and piously in this present world, Looking for the blessed HOPE and the glorious appearing of the great Elohim and our Savior Yahshua Messiah, who gave Himself for us that HE might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto HIMSELF a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:11-14.When the Ministry themselves refuse instruction, and repentance, the "Flock" is not fed.

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Hand in Hand for Syria

Keep Somalia's Remittances Open

I encourage readers to sign this petition from Oxfam calling upon the U.S. government to let the Somali diaspora continue to send remittance to their loved ones in Somalia.

Moves have been made to shut down such remittances from Somalis in America. Many Somalis need these remittances. The remittances to Somalia are larger than foreign aid contributions and are a lifeline to these people caught in trouble and turmoil.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".

Truth about Roderick C. Meredith

What sort of man is he? A man who could say things like this.

"Mr. Armstrong has reminded us again that we are to disfellowship any members who attend GTA's [Garner Ted Armstrong's] campaigns, church services or other meetings. Some of our weaker members apparently do not realize that this man is in direct rebellion against God and His government! We must not allow them, or ourselves, to rationalize about this matter, to try to "help the underdog," or in any other way lend support to one whose gross immorality, whose long standing "play acting" and hypocrisy, and whose direct insubordination to the Government of God has long been and is now a source of confusion and DIVISION among God's people. So, as per Mr. Armstrong's instruction, I charge and exhort every one of you faithful ministers of the living Christ to explain this in no uncertain terms to your members, to warn them about this cause of division and then to disfellowship any who consort with GTA or any of his fellows." (Roderick C. Meredith, Pastor's Report, May 21, 1979, pp. 1-2.)

David Robinson on Roderick C. Meredith

"During the ten years I have been an employee of the Worldwide Church, you have been poorly spoken of by most of the ministers and employees I have known. I vividly remember the absolute unbounded glee that was openly expressed by a good number of respected men in the church when you were first "shanghaied." [In 1972.] I could begin by naming names, which I am sure would shock you. I was one of the few who stood, where possible, for you. Your tenure as superintendent of ministers, as I believe the office was then called, was looked on as nightmarish. While you held office during the years of growth, most of those whom I know gave you very little credit for that growth. Almost everyone whom I know, whether they be former friends of yours, or continuing foes, recalls insensitive and terrible things you have done. Without exception, at least among my acquaintances, they all credit you with an unbridled lust for power and list you as one who is willing to pay the price of gaining that power, no matter what. I have, through many of the last few years, believed you had principles you would not violate. Many a man of experience in the church assured me of my error. Events have proven me wrong and them right. Mr. Armstrong has himself been widely quoted as saying of you that you were so righteous that you were so "righteous you were unrighteous." " (David Robinson, Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web, Chapter 16, p. 207.)

Of course it is impossible for me to personally verify these assertions but people deserve to know what this knowledgeable man had to say about him.